"Son Heung-min's friend" Micky van de Ven (25, Tottenham) dramatically prevented relegation to the Championship.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton 1-0 in the final 38th-round home match of the 2025-2026 Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on the 25th (Korea time). At the same time, 18th-place West Ham defeated Leeds United 3-0. With Tottenham also taking the win, Tottenham escaped relegation by finishing 17th.
Despite the victory that day, the expressions of Tottenham players were not entirely bright. After a season-long slump, they had been threatened with relegation until the final match. The player who expressed the most candid feelings after the match was central defender van de Ven.
In an interview with the BBC, van de Ven said, "It is unacceptable that this club was in a relegation battle until the last game of the season," and added, "We have an unbelievable number of great players in our team."
He went on, "It was shameful that it came to this situation. But in the end we survived, and that is what matters now."
Tottenham held on to João Palhinha's opening goal that day and secured three points. At the same time West Ham beat Leeds 3-0, but it was to no avail. With 17th-place Tottenham's victory, West Ham were relegated.
Tottenham endured extreme turmoil throughout this season. The Thomas Frank management collapsed quickly early in the season, and his successor Igor Tudor also failed to reverse the slide. Ultimately, Roberto De Zerbi, who took over at the end of March, barely guided the team to stay up.
Under De Zerbi's management, Tottenham earned 11 points in their recent six matches, achieving a late turnaround. However, as van der Veen said, the fact that a club that once dreamed of competing for the Premier League title had to worry about survival until the final day will remain a hard-to-erase scar.
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